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James Harden scored 31 points and Russell Westbrook returned to face his former team in the playoffs for the first time, helping the Houston Rockets beat Steven Adams’ Oklahoma City Thunder 114-80 on Saturday night (Sunday New York time). Zealand) for a 3-2 lead. in the first-round playoff series.
Adams had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Darius Bazley had 10 points and 12 rebounds for the Thunder. They lost by three at halftime before giving up 19 of the first 21 points of the third.
Robert Covington added 22 points for Houston and Eric Gordon had 20. The Rockets can advance to the conference semifinals with a win on Monday (Tuesday New Zealand time).
Ashley Landis / AP
Russell Westbrook (C) of the Houston Rockets faces Danilo Gallinari and Steven Adams (R) of the Oklahoma City Thunder for a fumble.
Westbrook, who had played just one game since Aug. 4 due to a quadriceps injury, missing the Rockets’ first four playoff games, scored seven points, six rebounds and seven assists in 23 minutes.
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Ashley Landis / AP
Luguentz Dort (C) of Oklahoma City Thunder goes up for a shot while Jeff Green of the Houston Rockets defends.
Dennis Schroder led the Thunder with 19 points despite being sent off midway through the third quarter for hitting PJ Tucker in the groin; Tucker was also expelled after retaliating with a head butt.
Houston scored 20 of the game’s first 27 points, but the Thunder erased the deficit in the second, taking a brief lead of up to five points, before the Rockets took a 48-45 lead at the half. Houston edged the Thunder 37-18 in the third.
Adams ’12 were the Thunders’ third-most points, behind Schroder and point guard Chris Paul (16).
BUCKS 119 MAGIC 104
Ashley Landis / AP
Orlando Magic DJ Augustin (14) prepares to shoot while Eric Bledsoe (6) of Milwaukee Bucks defends.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 28 points and 17 rebounds and Milwaukee beat Orlando to close out the Eastern Conference series in five games.
The Bucks advanced to face Miami in the second round, beginning Monday (Tuesday New Zealand time).
Chris Middleton added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Milwaukee. The Bucks had a 21-point lead cut to three in the fourth quarter before regaining control with the help of timely outside shots from Marvin Williams.
Ashley Landis / AP
Giannis Antetokounmpo (34) of the Milwaukee Bucks prevents Evan Fournier of the Orlando Magic from passing the ball to him.
Williams scored his 12 points on 3s, and Brook Lopez added 16 points for Milwaukee, which won four in a row after dropping the opener.
Nicola Vucevic had 22 points and 15 rebounds for Orlando. Evan Fournier added 18 points.
